With the troops for Thanksgiving through the years (PHOTOS)

By Chris Eger

Servicemembers throughout the centuries unable to return home for the holiday have found a way to keep the tradition alive while deployed.
Thanksgiving dates back to the 1620s and President George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide celebration in 1789. The event has a special place in the hearts of those in uniform missing their family and has been documented extensively over the years.
“Thanksgiving in camp” sketched Thursday 28th November 1861 by Alfred Waud (Photo: Library of Congress)
Drawing by combat artist Winslow Homer, showing happy Union soldiers of the 16th Maine Infantry celebrating the Thanksgiving of 1862 during the Civil War. (Photo: Library of Congress)
USS Charleston: Thanksgiving Day celebrations on board in November 1893, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo: U.S. Navy)
USS Hartford Thanksgiving Dinner Menu 1903 (Photo: U.S. Navy)
Joseph Christian Leyendecker’s Saturday Evening Post cover for Thanksgiving 1918, complete with a Doughboy, turkey, M1903 and Brodie helmet
“American soldier in ward of American Military Hospital No. 1 at Neuilly, supported by the American Red Cross, enjoying his Thanksgiving turkey” November 1918 (Photo: Library of Congress)
Soldiers stop for a photo at then-Camp McCoy prior to a Thanksgiving dinner at the installation in November 1937. (Photo: Department of Defense)
“After receiving permission from the farm

Source: Guns.com